Vauquelinia | |
---|---|
Vauquelinia californica | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
(unranked): | Angiosperms |
(unranked): | Eudicots |
(unranked): | Rosids |
Order: | Rosales |
Family: | Rosaceae |
Subfamily: | Amygdaloideae |
Tribe: | Maleae |
Genus: |
Vauquelinia Corrêa ex Bonpl. |
Species | |
Vauquelinia californica
Vauquelinia corymbosa
Vauquelinia, commonly known as the rosewoods, is a genus of the rose family Rosaceae. It consists of two species of shrubs found in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. The genus was named for French chemist Louis Nicolas Vauquelin (1763-1829). The nectar provided by these plants is commonly fed on by wasps such as Polistes instabilis.
V. californica is of some interest as an ornamental.
Vauquelinia, along with Lindleya and Kageneckia were formerly placed in family Quillajaceae, and have dry dehiscent fruit. Unlike the pome-fruited members of tribe Maleae within the Rosaceae, which share a base chromosome number of 17 with Lindleya and Kageneckia, Vauquelinia has a base chromosome number of 15.